Sword Art Online: X

That Gun... - Sinon

X stopped at a cave as we disembarked.

"You okay?"

I gripped the barrel of my sniper rifle as I wobbled into the cave. I couldn't speak.

"I'll take that as a no." He sighed.

Suddenly, I was pulled down.

I was about to resist, but the warmth around me froze me in my tracks.

I looked up at X, and found him looking away, his face flushed, "I'm not good at comforting people, okay? This is usually how I calm my sister down after a nightmare."

I giggled, at long last, the teaser had become the teased.

But before I could enjoy it that much, X suddenly turned somber.

"Hey... That gun... You recognized it, didn't you? Not in the sense that you knew what it was, but in the sense that you remember seeing it in real life." He asked.

I paused. Should I tell him?

"It's alright if you don't want to tell me, but honestly? I have a body count of over 100 after SAO. Nothing you really say or do can make me hate you, since I'd be a massive hypocrite if I did."

Over 100?!

This guy in front of me is a serial killer.

So why do I feel so safe around him?

"It was 5 years ago... I was in a post office with my mom when a robber broke in."

Oh, god. Why am I telling him this?

"He threatened everyone, but my mother in particular. He threatened to... shoot her... if his demands weren't met."

I felt a hand on the back of my head, gently stroking my hair, and I kept going.

"When he did, I got mad. I stole his gun and... I..." I choked, the tears were flowing freely down my face now.

"You shot and killed him. And the gun you used just so happens to be the gun Death Gun uses."

I nodded.

"I get it."

No, he doesn't. He's just saying that to be nice.

I shot up from his embrace, "What do you 'get', huh?! You killed over 100 people and you're not even affected by it! You can't possibly understand what I'm going through!"

X didn't do anything. He just sat there, with his back against a wall. 

"Whoever said I wasn't affected by it?"

X stared at me with blank eyes, as if daring me to say something.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't regret killing all of those people, but taking that many lives does a lot of bad shit to your sanity."

X closed his eyes, and reopened them. But this time, he seemed... different. His eyes were tired, scared, even.

That's when I realized. We were both broken.

"Do you understand what I go through? Every day, I see hallucinations of me murdering my friends and sister. Every day, a small part of me crumbles, and is lost to the insanity infecting my mind. I act like it's nothing, but I'm just a coward. A coward, and a liar. I lie to myself, saying that everything was going to be okay, but I knew not to trust myself. You can't call a man sane if he's willing to trust complete strangers more than he's willing to trust himself."

We stayed there, staring at each other. After a while, I apologized. "Sorry, I didn't realize."

His eyes turned serious again, "Alright, enough of that sappy shit. We need to take out Death Gun, and fast. Remember, don't let your heart-rate get too high, or else you'll be ejected from the game, and the dude standing in your apartment will immediately kill you. As long as you avoid getting shot by Death Gun's pistol, you'll be fine. Let's see, there are six of us left- wait, no, two of them killed each other. So now there's you, me, Sterben and Yamikaze. I'll handle Death Gun. I'm trusting you to take down Yamikaze."

I nodded, even though his aura had once again returned to the bleak winter storm, I knew that it was all an act. 

"Alright. I'm leaving. Stay hidden for a while longer, and then take out Yamikaze. See that tower over there? That's a good spot for you."

I looked over to where he was pointing, and noticed the ruined tower in the distance.

"Alright. Good luck." I shouldered my sniper.

"Hah. I don't need luck." He gripped his knife as he walked out of the cave.

Momentarily, he paused, as if he wanted to say something more: "Don't die on me, 'kay?"

He walked out into the open without another word, but I could've sworn his ears were tinted pink.

After the satellite scan completed, I bolted, climbing up the tower as if I was an arc of electricity running through the wires.

I spotted X in the clearing, and took aim at where Yamikaze was, allegedly, coming from. 

Suddenly, I spotted him, just a blur in the sand, but I knew exactly who it was.

Should I try to shoot him now and risk exposing my position, or should I risk X getting distracted by him too much to deal with Death Gun to confirm the kill?

No. I'll wait for him to stop.

I kept my sight trained on his head as he stopped behind a cactus. Right as he swung out to shoot at X, I pulled him out of the game with a pull of the trigger.

"Hecate II, don't fail me now."

I then took aim at Death Gun's location after hearing his shot.

He knew where I was. I knew where he was. As I pulled my trigger, my gun recoiled, and my scope was gone.

I can't see him anymore, so I didn't know if I hit him or not, but the fact that he did not keep shooting at me suggested that his gun was, like mine, damaged in some way.

I could see that, despite his speed, X could not kill Death Gun, but how can I help?

Then I remembered: My gun isn't broken.

I took aim at the tiny figures in the distance, but I did not pull the trigger.

One of the figures fell, but I couldn't tell which.

Suddenly, I heard the familiar shooting of X's desert eagle, signaling that he was still in the game.

...

"Well then, job well done, huh? Good job with the laser, by the way."

I laughed, "It was the first thing I could think of."

"Well, congrats. We're the last two alive. How do we figure out who wins?"

I reached into my pocket, "Ever heard of Souvenir Grenades?"

He tilted his head, "Huh?"

"Hold out your hand, palm up."

He complied, and I placed a grenade in his hand. I activated it.

"Oh, I get it, simultaneous elimination, yeah?"

I nodded, and hugged the grenade between our bodies, "My name is Asada Shino."

"Kayaba Hibiki."

I smiled as the explosion blew us both to dust.

A/N: And now the Phantom Bullet Arc is completed, at long last. Now for the real-life encounter.

I wonder how this is going to go?

Anyway, if you enjoyed this chapter, consider voting and following for more. Peace out, everybody. Goodbye.

Timeless_95, signing out.